Traverse equipment



P 1932- w. c. KENNEY ET AL TRAVERSE EQUIPMENT Fild Feb. 6, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 1 illl'aln Georg @MKnn Sept. 20, 1932.

W. C. KENNEY ET AL TRAVERS E EQUI PMEN '1' Filed Feb. 6, 19322'Sheets-Sheel .lhvel'ztar mug l F living h Ylliazn GK? (7001 el zlnuqyPatented Sept. 20, 1932 UNETE STATES PATENT oF-rlclz WILLIAIM G. KENNEYAND GEORGEHM. KENNEY, OF CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND, AS.-

SIGNORS TO KENNEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND,

A CORPORATION O FLRHODE I SLAIN D TRAVERSE EQUIPMENT Applicationfi1ed.IE'ebruary e; 193:2.- Serial No. 531,350.

This invention relates totliat class of ourtain fixtures known to'thetrade as traverses wherein a pair of curtains, portieres or otherhangings are suspended at their upper edges from a rod b y-means of aplurality of traveling idlers and a pair of mastercan riersslidingwithin the rod; The master carriers, and with them the hangings,are adapted simultaneously to be drawn together 10 or apart by means ofa pull cord operating over guide pulleys mounted in or on the rod.

In general, the object of our present invention is to improve andsimplify such traverse equipment to the end that the traverse shalloperate freely at all times Without danger of jamming or cramping themoving parts or entangling the operating cord with said moving parts. 7

To accomplish his object we have de- 29 veloped master and idlercarriers of entirely new structure and result. Our carriers are sodesigned as to prevent all possibility of the operating cord .frombecoming caught be tween them and their trackways and thus 2 causing theequipment to am. Specifically both the master and idler carriers used inour traverse are provided with eyesor' loops in which the operating cordis positively :con-

fined and guided, thus eliminatingthe dan- 30 ger of the cord becomingentangled with the moving carriers.

Our master carriers, moreover, are pro vided with a locking device ofentirely new type by means of which the operating cord can be instantlylocked to and unlocked from the master carrier at any position ofadjnstment of the master carrier along the trackwav without danger ofcutting, fraying. or,

otherwise damaging the operating cord; 7 In order to obtain such adustment in traverses now on the market it is necessary either to use setscrewswhich bite into the cord when tightened. and soon fray or cut it,or else to use locking-devices which are so difficult of accesses torequire the rod to be removed from its operatingbrackets in order tomanipulate said locking devices.

Each master carrier of our traverse is constructed to guide and confineone length of the looped operating cord and to be locked to and unlockedfrom the other length of such cord; Thus the cord is not only preventedfrom becoming entangled Withthe' moving carrier but the carrier may belocked to and unlocked from the cord whenever it is desired to adjustthe carrier to anew position along the rod, without danger .of frayingor cutting'the cord and without requiring'that the rod be dismountedfrom its supporting brackets.

Each idler carrier of our traverse isconstructed to guide and confineboth lengths of the operating cord, and additionally is provided withmeans adapted positively to prevent the idlers from tilting into aposition wherein they will jam against the inside wall of the rod. v V

The construction and manner of assembling and operating our traverse,together with a form of traverse which has been found both isatisfactory under actual: service conditions and well adapted to'the'requirements of com mercial manufacture, is described and illustrated inthe accompanying specification and draw1ngs,and'1ts characteristicfeatures of novelty particularly pointed out in the appended claims. a

In the drawings .Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of atraverseinstallation in accordance with our con- -v y Q I Fig. 2 is asectiona'lized showing .of the'traverse assembly'of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective of a section of our novel traverserod, removed' Fig. 4 is aperspective view of one of the master'carriers,removed from the assembly, and unlocked. I V

Fig. '5 is a fragmentary side view thereof, and showing the parts intheir locked position.

6 is a section on the line 6- 6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 'is' a perspective view of one of the idler carriers, removed, VFig. '8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2,and o .9 is a perspectiveviewof one of the rod supporting brackets removed.

' According to our present invention, .we

utilize ithe U-shaped rod ofthe" George M.

Kenney Patent No. 1,723,975, of August 6, 1929, as the rod element ofour present novel combination.

Such rod may be either a single length or may consist of two or moretelescopic members asindicated at A and Bin Figs. 1 to 3. In eithercase, the rod presents a pair of spaced side walls 1 connected acrosstheir upper edges by thetop. wall 2, and terminating at their loweredges in spaced inturned flanges 3 which afford trackways for the masterand idler carriers of the traverse.

The space 4 separating said flanges is substantially central of therodso that the weight of the curtains or other hangings'I-I and H isdisposed insubstantiallythe vertical axis of the rod and in a planeparallel to the window or other'opening to .be covered.

rod seating formation 7 providing a U-shaped recess of reverseddisposition as to the U of the rod so that theends of the rod may beentered into the samefrom above, the rod .endsbeing slotted as at 8(Fig. 3) and the U-shaped. recess of each bracket being pro.- vided witha centering and locking prong 9 adapted to be penetrated'through a rod.slot 8. When the rod is mounted in. the brackets, its rounded bottomedg'es 3 rest against the rounded bottom edges 7 of the recesses 7, sothat the weight of the rod andits hangings is borne entirely by saidbottom edges 7.

The bracket per se however forms no part of our present invention exceptin its com- I binative relation to the rod.

Slidable inside the rod' on the continuously horizontal uninterruptedtrackways provided ,by the free edges ofthe upturned flanges 3 of therod is a pair of master carriersindicated generally atlO'ahd 10 and aplurality of idler. carriers indicated generally at 11. These carriershave curtain attachingportionsdepending throughthe slot. or opening 4spacing the flanges 3 so that the weight. of the hangings is disposedcentrally of the rod. Themaster carriersare'duplicates of each other, asare the idlers 11, and hence a description of one of each will-suffice.

Each master carrier comprises a relatively thin strip or body portion,preferably of me ah l/Vhere :of metal it may be formed, preferablyalongits upper edge as a pair of Spaced loops or eyes 12 and 13, whichare preferably located, respectively, at either. end

of said upper edge, .These eyes, afford antii ti s ss elt elqoped greein card.

The traverse rigging is as 7 tons 23 bymeans the exposed operating endsof which are indicated at 14 and 15.

Beyond the eyes 12 and 13, each carrier extends upwardly as a pair ofdivision webs 12 and 13 at the extreme ends of the carrier. One purposeofthe webs is to space the lengths of the operating cord apart. The cordlengths pass over rollers 16 and 17 mounted onv each carrier at saidwebs. Another purpose of the webs is to prevent the carriersfromstriking against the top wall of'the rod. I

"Therollers 16 and 17 ride on the trackwaysprovided by thefree edges ofthe upturned flanges f the rod and the lengths of the operating cordrest on the upper surfaces of these rollers. V l

Inwardly of the eyes or loops 12 and 13 the upper edge of each mastercarrier is provided witha fixedpairbf spaced alined cord guides 18 and19 between which is a movable cord guide 20.

The movable cord guide 20 is capable of limited movement in both alateral and a vertical direction relative to the fixed guides 18 and 19.When moved laterally towards the left and downwardly from the positionof Fig. t to that of Fig, 5, said guide 20 clamps or binds the insertedlength ofcord therein,

thus lockingthe master carrier to the cord. 3;

,When the guide 20 is moved to the release position of Fig. 4, the cordis unlocked so that the carrier may be adjusted-along the rod to .a newposition and again locked.

The movement of the guide 20 from looked a;

tounlocked position and vice versa may be conveniently, accomplished byforming the guide 20 as van integral part of a manually operable lockinglever 21 mounted on the body portion of the carrierfor limited motion inboth alateral and a vertical direction.

. Stamped or otherwise marked on the body of the carrier itself areoppositely pointing arrows and. the legends, To look and To releaseindicating the locked and unlocked positions of the lever when swunglaterally. When swung to the locked positions the lever is also drawnslightly downwardly to move the guide 20 out of alinement with theguides 18 and 19 (F 5) thereby binding the length 1 ofthe cord linfsaidfigure. lVhen swung to the unlocked position, the lever also movesslightly upwardly to carry the guide 20 back into substantial alinementwith the guides 18 and 19 (Fig.4) thereby releasing the cord length 14:in said figure.

Forthis purpose, the lever is extended downwardly at one side of thecarrier sub:

stantially parallel to the: plane thereof, and is provided at its lower,end with a stud which is disposed through a cam slot 22 formed inthebody of the carrier and is provided with rounded heads oroperating.butofiwhich the lever may be Themetal of the carrierabove theslot 22 is cutaway as indicated at 24: and is depressed laterallyslightly above said cut-out 24: as indicated at 25 to provide a guidingbar to guide the, leverin its back and forth swinging motion, the bodyof the lever above the buttons 23 and beneath the guide 20 beingslightly depressed laterally to bear against said bar 25.

One end of each master carrier is offset, as indicated at 26, to permitit to clear the reversely offset end of the opposite master car rierwhen the carriers are brought together whereby the hangingsmay beoverlapped upon each other when closed. These offset ends, as well asthe opposite ends of the master carriers are apertured as at 27 toreceive any suitable curtain fastening device,

as a hook or thread.

Each idler carrier 11 (Fig. 7) comprises adepending hanger 28 and twosets of rollers 29 and 30 at either end of the upper portion of saidhanger, which is formed as a cord guiding eye or loop 28 The lower endof hanger is perforated asat 31 for the attachment of the curtain. Abovesaid hole 31 and below the rollers 29and 30, the hanger is provided witha third set of rollers 28. These rollerstrack along the outer edges 3 ofthe rod and prevent the idler from tilting inside the rod and therebyjamming the operating cords between the idlers and the top wall of therod.

The cord rigging'is standard. At the right hand-end of the rod in Fig.2there is mounted a double pair of alined pulleys 32, only one of whichshows however in said figure. At the left hand end of the rod is mounteda single pulley 33.

Both lengths 14 and 15 of the pull cord are looped over pulley 33 andeach length is individually passed over one or the other of the pair ofpulleys 32.

Considering the disclosure of Fig. 2 as typical, from the far pulley 32in that figure over which the length 14 for example passes, said lengthis carried through the eye 28 of the idler carrier 11- of which theremay be more than one, and thence loosely through the eyes 13 and 12 ofthe master carrier at the far side of the webs 13 and 12 but not throughthe loops 19, 20 or 18 of said carrier, thence through the eye 13, fixedloop 18, looking loop 20, fixed loop 19, and eye 12 of the other mastercarrier 10, thence through the eye 28 of the idler carrier 11, of whichthere may be more than one lying between said carrier 10 and the pulley33, thence over pulley 33, thence as return length back through the eye28 of said idler carrier or carriers, thence loosely through the eyes 12and 13 of master carrier 10 at the near side of the webs 12 and 13,thence through the loops 19, and 18 of the other carrier 10 i at thenear side of the webs 12' and 13, thence through the eye 28 of the idlercarrier or carriers 11 which lie between said carrier 10 and the pulleys32, and finallyover the-nearer of said pulleys 32. i

By means of this. arrangement, the cord lengths are positivelyguided'and confinedso as notto become entangled with the moving v wardseach other when one end 14 0f the i cord is drawn downwardly andawayfrom each other when the opposite end v15 of the cord is drawndownwardly. Y n

If after a rod has been installed, as in Fig.

1, for example, it is found desirable toreverse its position so that thepull cord ends will be at the left hand end of. the rod instead of theright, the rod inits entirety is simply lifted out of its supportingbrackets,

turned around, and replaced in the brackets.

This may bedone without disturbing'the setting of the carriers orremoving and re-' placing any of the operating parts of the traverse,the master carriers being stamped on both sides with the operatingdirections as to locking and releasing so that either side which happensto be outermost presents the same operating directionsQ Our rod is ofthe maximum rigidity and strength, due to'its U-shape, and hence may beextended to any practicable length Without danger ofsagging or buckling.

The curtains hang centrally of the rod and hence our carriers may bemanipulated back and forth with farless effort, due to the substantialreduction of friction. In our rod, the friction is equally distributedover both parallel flanges .3 of the rod which afiord a pair of trackrailsdisposed intthe same horizontal-plane. 1

Various modifications in the construction and operation of our devicemay obviously be resorted to if within the spirit and scope of ourinvention as defined by-the-appended claims.

ar a

lVhat we therefore claim and desire to se cure by Letters Patent is r 1;In traverse equipment, a rod, a master and an idler carrier movable onsaid rod, said master carrier having an eye adjacent each end thereofand a movable looking formation between said eyes and independentthereof, and said idler carrier .also having" an eye, andraloopedoperating-cord for said ,maStercarrier,ronelengthofsaidcordpassing through the eyes of 'saidmastercarrie'r and the otherlengt-h of said cord passing both through said eyes and the lockingformation of said master carrier but independent of saidfirst-namedlength, and both lengths passing throughthe eye of said'idlercarrier.

2. Traverse'equipment asclaimed in claim 1 wherein themaster carrieradjacent said eyes is provided with rollers, constituting both guidesover which the cord lengths pass to said eyes and anti-friction-"-bearings adapted to track on said rod.

'3. Traverse equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the idler carrierbelow said eye is provided with rollers adapted to track on said rod.

4. In traverse equipment, a master carrierhaving a pair of spaced alinedeyes adjacent its ends, and a looped operating cord, both lengthsofwhich are received and guided in saideyes. I a a Y5; A master carrier asclaimed in claim 4, wherein the carrier hasrollers in advance of saideyes and below the sanie'over which the operating cord passes to said.eyes;

6. In traverse equipment, a master carrier having a pair of spacedalined eyes adjacent its ends adaptedto receive and guide an operatingeordalong said upper edge, rollers in advance of said eyes and below thesame over which the operating cord passes to said eyes, and divisionwebsabove said rollers and disposed substantially centrally of said eyesand in advance of the same.

" 7. A master carrier as claimedin claim 6, 1 a I wherein said carrierbetween said eyes is formed with a fixed pair of spaced alined cordguiding loops and a movable cord locking loop is disposed in the spacebetween said 7 fixed pair of loops and is movable into and outofregistry therewith.

8. In traverse equipment,'a master carrier havinga fixed pair of spacedcord guides,

, and a movable cord lock disposed in the 7 space between said fixedguides for movement I v into and out of registry therewith.

' 9. In traverse equipment, a master carrier having afixed pairof spacedcord guides, and a cord lock'comprisinga lever mounted on said carrierfor movement both laterally V and vertically relative thereto, saidlever having at its upper end a movable cord guide disposed between saidpair of fixed cord guides and shiftableinto and out of registrytherewith by andin the inovement of said lever to lock or the cord. a10. A master carrier as claimed inclaimt),

release position relative to tures.

to be passed, said head 'terminatingin a dependingdrapery attachingportion, an antifriction element at either end ofsaid head below saideye and spaced thereby from each other, and an anti-friction elementcarried by said depending drapery attaching portion and disposed belowsaid anti-friction elements of the head and substantially centrallythereof.

12. In traverse equipment, a U-shaped rod having spaced solid front andrear walls, a connecting top wall, and a pair of spaced traclrformingflanges extending inwardly and upwardly from its lower edge to provide asubstantially continuous, unbroken trackway from end to end of the rod,a master carrier having a roller bearing on said track- GEORGE M.KENNEY. WILLIAM C. KENNEY.

wherein the body'of the carrier is formed withla camslot and thelower-endof said lever is provided with afinger-operating stud disposedthrough saidslot; p

13 11. In traverse equipment. an idler slide having a head formed with acord guiding eye through V which an operating cord is adapted

